The UC men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the All-Ohio Intercollegiate Championships in Cedarville on Saturday. The men are the defending team champion while the women finished fifth last year.

Susan Seaton enters her 11th with the University of Cincinnati and first as the interim director of track & field/cross country. Prior to taking the reins of both the men’s and women’s program, she served as the women’s head coach for five seasons.

// COACHING EXPERIENCESeaton joined the Bearcats in 2004 as an assistant coach specializing in the throwing events. She remainder in that role until 2008 when she was named the interim head women’s track & field/cross country coach. The interim title was dropped following the 2008-09 campaign. In the fall of 2014, Seaton was tagged the interim director of track & field/cross country, which is the role she is currently in.

Before joining the Bearcats, Seaton spent six seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin and three years as an assistant at Northern Arizona University.

Seaton has a Level I and II USA Track & Field coaching education certification, and she is a graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches Academy and a member of the Alliance for Women Coaches. She also serves on the NCAA Division I Track & Field/Cross Country Committee. In addition to her committee responsibilities, Seaton also speaks at major coaching clinics across the United States.

Prior to her time at Cincinnati, Seaton mentored five All-Americans, 16 conference champions and nine NCAA qualifiers. She also was part of 15 conference championship team titles and 10 NCAA Top 10 teams.

// ACADEMIC EXCELLENCEOff the track, Seaton has guided the women’s program to new heights in the classroom, and she looks to do the same with the men’s program. In each of the last three seasons, the women’s program has earned U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team Awards. In 2009, the cross country program garnered a program high GPA of 3.64, which ranked them 18th in the country amongst all Division I institutes. UC has also named 11 individuals to the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team for reaching the NCAA regional while also posting a GPA greater than 3.25.

// COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENTSeaton has also led the Bearcats in countless community projects around the Greater Cincinnati Area. UC has volunteered with organizations like Girls on the Run, the local veteran’s hospital, Operation School Bell, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati Freestore Foodbank as well as mentoring at various local schools.

// PERSONAL LIFEA native of Saalfeld, Germany, Seaton earned her bachelor’s degree from the German College of Sports Science in 1991 and a master’s in exercise science from the University of Leipzig in 1994. Seaton was a standout athlete for the East German junior track and field team and competed for her German club team SC Motor Jena from 1984-87. She has competitive experience in the javelin, discus, shot put, multi events, high jump, long jump, hurdles and cross country.

Susan and her husband, Robert, reside in College Hill and have two sons, Patrick and Aidan.